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Maj Alphabet

Maj has an alphabet derived from ISO Latin. It has 24 letters associated with 28 sounds. Maj has a balanced ratio between consonants and vowels 21/7 = 3. We avoid consonat clusters and we use simple word patterns to make Maj words easyer to pronounce.

Maj Alphabet

Notes:

Each letter has an uppercase version;
Letters "W" and "Q" are not used in Maj;
We replace "W" with "U" and "w" with "u";
We replace "Q" with "K" and "q" with "k";

Pronunciation

Maj pronunciation is based on deterministic rules. That means, pronounciation rules are the same in all words and do not depend on the word origin. In Maj you do no need to learn how to spell words. That is if you know Maj alphabet and reading rules then you can read any Maj word correctly even if you have never heared that word before.

Notes

Maj alphabet has 7 vowels, 17 consonants and 4 digraphs in total 28 sounds;
Maj sounds require healthy tongue, lips, teeth and vocal chords;
Maj sounds do not require to put your tongue between your teeth;
Maj sounds do not require inverted tongue tip (retroflex);
Maj has strong consonants and clear vowels similar to Portuguese;
Maj sounds have a Balkanic root but not all sounds are from Latin;

Modified Letters:

"h" is read /ə/ like "eo" in word "pigeon";
"j" is read /ʒ/ like "su" in word "pleasure";
"x" is read /h/ like "ho" in word "hollywood";
"c" is read /ʃ/ like "sh" in word "sheep";

Tools:

We have set-up some free tools to help you learn and practice the Maj writing system.

Latin to: Maj IPA convertor;
Latin to: Maj Script convertor;

Vowels

Maj has 7 vowels: { a e i o u h y }:

Maj Vowels

Pronounciation

Next 5 vowels are pronounced like in Italian and Romanian languages not like in English nor German:

"a" read /a/ is open central, like "a" in "car";
"e" read /e/ is close-mid front, like "e" in "melon";
"i" read /i/ is close front, like "ee" in "geese";
"o" read /o/ is close-mid back, like "o" in "document";
"u" read /u/ is close back, like "oo" in "soon";
"y" read /y/ is very similar to sound "i" in words "still"
"h" read /ə/ is mid central, like "o" in baron;

Letter "y": Is close central, un-rounded vowel. IPA symbol for this sound is actually /y/. This sound is very different than English sound "y". It is very similar to sound "i" in words "still" or "director". A similar sound is IPA:/ɨ/. Maj do not use this letter very often but it is present in some words given as examples: "myna" = hand and "zyna" = fairy.

Learn more: listening: y

Letter "h": In Maj this letter is very different from other languages. This letter is pronounced "ə" and is never silent. If it is present, it has to be read. Th original letter h is replaced by letter x or X. So then letter X si pronounced IPA: /h/.

Since on QUERTY KEYBOARD there is not letter "ə" we have decided to use "h" instead. We have inspired this decision from Greek where H is actually pronounced "i" but we think "ə" is necesary since we do have "i" that is good enaugh. Also there is no point to have a silent letters in Maj so "h" ould be wasted.

Learn more: listening: h

Diphthongs

A diphthong is a new sound created with two vowels. Maj has numerous diphthongs. In the next table you can find all theoretica possible diphthongs: (42) in practice, some diphtongs will never be used due to difficult pronounciation.

Maj Diphtongs

Note: In maj some diphtongs are gliding. This technique may be difficult to learn and has no rule. This is the price we pay for elimination of the letter "w" that is the onlu glided case in English. In our defense, Maj is made for typing. Does not matter if your pronunciation is not perfect.

Tone and accent

Maj vowels can be pronounced with one of two tones: Low Tone and Higher Tone:

word ending

If a word is ending with space, "." or ";" you can use lower tone for last vowel;
If a word is ending with comma, "," or "?" you should use higher tone for last vowel;

sentence ending

Symbols: "!" and "?" are altering the last vowel of the last word.

Using "!" will make a lower tone for last vowel;
Using "?" will make a higher tone for last vowel;

For question mark: You should pronounce a longer vowel and gliding the tone from lower to higher level. Wehn the word is ending with a consonant, the vowel in front of the last consonant is modified.

accent:

Maj words have a very soft accent on the first syllable. Apostroph can modify the accent position from first to last syllable. This accent gliding is used in verb conjugation, imperative and negation. I will not insis on Maj accent since Maj is for typing not for speaking. However if you need to speack Maj try to learn this simple rule.

Consonants

Maj is using 21 consonants:

Maj Consonants

Pronounciation

Most consonants are similar to IPA but some are different;

"b" is voiced, plosive, bilabial like "b" in "boss";
"c" is voiceless, post-alveolar fricative like "sh" in "fashion":
"p" is voiceless, plosive, bilabial like "p" in "pin";
"t" is voiceless, plosive, alveolar like "t" in "test";
"d" is voiced, plosive, alveolar like "d" in "door";
"k" is voiceless velar stop like "k" in "kitten" or "c" in "color";
"m" is nasal, bilabial, like "m" in "mule";
"n" is alveolar, nasal, like "n" in "novel";
"r" is trilled, similar to sound "r" in "rocket"
"f" is voiceless, lavio-dental frivative like "f" in "frog";
"v" is voiced labio-dental fricative , similar to "v" in "voice";
"s" is fricative alveolar like "s" in "snake";
"z" is alveolar-dental, vibrated, similar to "z" in "zoo";
"l" is liquid, alveolar, like "l" in "lord";
"g" is voiced velar fricative like "gu" in "guitar";
"j" is viuced fricative alveolar, like "s" in "pleasure";
"x" is voiced fricative glottal like "h" in "happy";

Digraphs

Digraphs are groups of 2 letters that are thigtly connected and become a new and distinctive sound. In fact we have created special script letters for these 3 sounds. In other languages one vowel and one consonant can make a digraph but in Maj digraphs are created using two consonants.

Maj Digraphs

Pronounciation

Digraph "tc" sounds "t͡ʃ" like "ch" in "peach": listen
Digraph "ts" sounds "t͡s" like "ts" in "cats": listen
Group "dj" sounds "d͡ʒ" like "g" in "giraffe": listen
Cluster "ks" is read /ks/ similar to "x" in word "maximum";

Clusters

A clusters represents a group of two consonants. Maj is using cluster in many words using pattern: CCV or VCCV.

Rules:

we do not use same letter twice to make clusters;
some combinations can not be pronounced therefore are descouraged;
clusters of 3 consonants are very rare in Maj;

External References

For explaining the alphabet pronunciation we have used phonetic symbols:

Read next: Numerals